End Game Begin
by JoIsBishMyoga
Summary: Yuusuke has a talk with Kurama, and along the way clears up some troubling inconsistencies. Rated for language.


Roses are red, violets are blue   
The disclaimer's here, so please don't sue 

I do not own the pretty fox.   
I don't have Hiei under locks.   
I do not own the series, ma'am   
And saying so right now, I am! 

***Warnings: Foul language, possible ooc Yuusuke (this was my first attempt at writing him), and a SPOILER. 

***Pairings: Any you see are unintentional. If you must have a pairing, this is pre-HxK. It's too early (in my opinion) for Kurama to have developed noticeable romantic feelings towards Hiei (or vice versa). 

***A note: this takes place right after the fight between Yuusuke and Hiei, when he'd stolen the Reikai artifact Ghostslayer. I have no idea what the dubbed names of the Artifacts are, so I know Hiei's as Ghostslayer and Kurama's as the Mirror of Utter Dark. 

**End Game Begin**

"You know, Kurama, there's something I don't get." 

Kurama glanced up at his companion. He and Yuusuke had been sitting in silence for a long time, waiting for the Reikai to send transport for Yuusuke's prisoners. Neither one was in any condition to ride Botan's oar, not with Kurama's wound still trickling blood, nor with Hiei tied and warded as well as unconscious. Yuusuke hadn't had much choice but to keep guard while Botan hurried a dazed Keiko home. 

"Yes?" the redhead murmured. 

"Hiei... he's not usually like that, is he." 

It wasn't a question, which was enough to send a spark of interest through Kurama's mind. "Like what?" he asked. 

"All... homicidal and psycho like that." 

Kurama smiled wryly. "Actually, yes, he is." 

"No!" Yuusuke objected. "That's not what I meant. I don't know the guy and all, but dammit something wasn't right." Kurama waited as Yuusuke tapped a foot idly against the floor, speaking aloud to help organize his thoughts. "He was so... out of control." 

"Yes." 

"And he fell for a cheap trick." 

"Yes." 

"Two of them, actually, including yours." 

"Yes." 

"Would you QUIT saying 'yes' like that?" Kurama's smile widened imperceptibly, prodding Yuusuke's train of thought forward. "Three guys to steal the Reikai artifacts. You, Gouki, Hiei. You were the thief, you admitted as much. Gouki was your basic hired thug, all muscle and no brains. Cannon fodder." 

"You disapprove?" Yuusuke was right; he and Hiei hadn't really considered Gouki part of their partnership, despite what the soul-eater thought of his status. 

"Maybe. You care if I do?" 

"Maybe." 

Yuusuke blinked, but returned to the subject. "The expert, the decoy... that leaves the leader. The real power and brains: Hiei." He frowned, putting his hands behind his head. "So how the HELL did I beat him? What changed between now and the theft?" 

Kurama waited. He had his own ideas, but Yuusuke's musings were getting interesting. He'd had no idea the delinquent... almost infamously delinquent... teen had such a sharp mind. It was intriguing. 

Dark eyes turned inward. "Kurama..." Yuusuke murmured. "Exactly what does Ghostslayer do again?" 

Intriguing indeed. Kurama understood Yuusuke was asking simply to hear it said aloud again. "Ghostslayer enslaves the minds of humans, and turns them into demonic drones." 

"And when they're demons, does Ghostslayer still work on them?" 

Brilliant boy. "Yes." 

"So Ghostslayer enslaves minds... human or demon. Did Hiei know that when he stole the sword?" 

"Yes." 

Yuusuke's eyes narrowed. "That doesn't make sense, why would he steal something that would control him?" He glanced over when Kurama didn't answer, frowning at the secretive smile Kurama allowed him to see. "You know something I don't," he said needlessly. "Hiei somehow thought the sword wouldn't control him. Did he have a counterspell?" 

"No." 

"Something in his nature, then. Something to beat a mind-controlling sword," he mused aloud. "Mind control: a battle of wills and the stronger wins. Ghostslayer is stronger than humans, but Hiei's not human. He overestimated himself...?" 

"No, he is stronger than Ghostslayer." 

"Damn. Ok, I'll bite. What is it?" Yuusuke asked, evidently aware that he didn't know enough about Hiei, or demons in general, to guess. Kurama shifted towards him a bit, wincing as this pulled at his closing wound. "Kurama?" 

"I'm fine, I'm fine. I suppose I owe you that much." Kurama smiled sheepishly at Yuusuke. "We didn't count Jagan. The third eye," he clarified. "It's not Hiei's own; it's an implant that he controls. It has its own will, roughly equal to Ghostslayer's. That's why we knew Hiei was stronger than the sword. We thought they would get locked into a three-way stalemate, actually, which would be more stable than what Hiei has now." 

Yuusuke sweatdropped. "And you didn't think they might try working together to overpower Hiei?" 

"Well, no." Kurama rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment. "They're what we call elementals; they have wills, not minds. They exist to gain power, not share it. We didn't think they'd be able to... get around their programming, so to speak." 

Yuusuke clapped a hand to his forehead at this. "You really were out of it, weren't you. Two oversights on your part, in one week... some expert you are." He paused. "No offense." 

"None taken." 

"Speaking of being out of it, how's your mom doing?" 

Taken aback by the sudden change in subject, Kurama answered, "Fine. She should be coming home from the hospital next week. She's very happy about it." 

"I bet she is. Hospitals suck." Yuusuke stretched, absently glancing over at Hiei. "And you'll be dutifully taking care of her while she gets back on her feet, won't you. She won't have to struggle alone." 

"Um, right." Kurama inclined his head slightly. "Thanks to you, of course." 

"Yup, helped you with that crazy Mirror," Yuusuke said in an odd tone of voice. "Helped her be happy. Saved your tails. Not everyone would have done that." 

"No, I suppose they wouldn't." 

"How did you know I would?" 

"What?" 

Yuusuke turned his head towards Kurama, dark eyes burning into startled green. "I said," he repeated, "how did you know I would do that? Give part of my life to the Mirror to save both your lives?" 

"I didn't." 

Yuusuke sat up sharply. "Bullshit, Kurama. You aren't stupid," he snapped, adding, "You knew what the price of the Mirror was and you knew she'd be unhappy if you died. That's why you took me to the hospital, why you let me be there when you activated the damn mirror. You knew it couldn't fulfill your wish." Kurama stared, eyes wide, as Yuusuke slowly settled back again. "That's why you worded your wish that way. You wished for her happiness, knowing the mirror couldn't take your life for that, whether it granted it or not. You only pretended to be willing to trade your life for hers, knowing I couldn't stand by and let you do it." He rubbed his nose roughly with the back of his hand. "And I completely fell for it, you damn fox. I'd hit you for that if you weren't fucking injured already." 

"You're upset." 

"Kinda. I don't like being manipulated, especially by someone I'd call a friend." 

Kurama tilted his head curiously at Yuusuke. "Friend?" 

"Yeah, laugh it up. The stupid human thinks you're his friend." 

"I'm not laughing, Yuusuke." He put his hand gently on the other boy's shoulder. "And I truly didn't know you would do something like that." Yuusuke muttered something rude under his breath, and Kurama's grip tightened as he added, "But I did hope." 

"You. Hoped." 

"Yes..." He let his hand fall. "I'm not all that eager to die, Yuusuke." 

The boy waved that off. "Yeah, yeah, I get why you did it. If it was my mom... Anyways, you could have just told me without tricks. Would've been a lot easier." 

"Except then you would have tried to stop me." 

"And gotten my ass kicked in the process, huh?" 

"I wouldn't have put it quite like that, but yes." 

Yuusuke grinned insolently. "One of these days we'll have to find out." 

Kurama stared for a moment before his face broke out into a brilliant smile. "You really want to, don't you," he said incredulously. 

"I haven't gotten to see any of your moves, man!" 

"You may not get to. Reikai sentences tend to be demonically long." 

"You'll get off light and you know it," Yuusuke retorted. "You didn't attack anyone, you didn't resist arrest, and you helped catch Hiei. So you up to it or what?" 

Kurama's eyes danced with mirth. Yuusuke hadn't missed a trick! "All right, we'll spar someday." 

"Spar?! Hell no, I want a match!" Kurama started to chuckle, causing Yuusuke to glance sideways at him. "What's so funny?" 

"Nothing," the redhead managed. "You just sound like you trust me." 

"What, that didn't get through to you? You threw yourself in front of a sword for me." He paused. "Well, partly for me. Nothing could've helped Hiei if he'd managed to kill me," he said in an aside. "Anyways, I trust you to be yourself: calculating, cunning, and too damn loyal for your own good." He held out his hand with well-faked nonchalance. "So, friends?" 

Kurama shook on it. "Friends." And he laughed. 


End file.
